GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS

A team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York that is studying ovarian cancer has not only discovered another mechanism by which tumors evade attack by the immune system, but is also devising a first-in-class potential treatment.

The glycoprotein CD31 was associated with improvements in overall survival and progression-free survival for patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated with frontline bevacizumab.

Robert L. Coleman, MD, FACOG, FACS, professor, Ann Rife Cox Chair in Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, vice chair, Clinical Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the results of the ARIEL2 trial, a phase II study to identify patients with ovarian cancer likely to respond to rucaparib using tumor genetic analysis.

Rucaparib showed an overall response rate of 82% among a cohort of patients with BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer in the phase II ARIEL2 study.

Patients with pretreated advanced ovarian cancer demonstrated encouraging signs of antitumor activity with monoclonal antibodies against programmed death-1 and its ligand PD-L1, according to findings from two clinical studies presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Gynecologic Cancers

D. Ross Camidge, MD, director, Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program, program director, Thoracic Oncology Clinical and Translational Research Fellowship, University of Colorado Denver, discusses MET as a secondary driver in lung cancer.

The added overall survival benefit seen with intraperitoneal versus intravenous chemotherapy extends beyond 10 years for patients with ovarian cancer.

The oral combination of olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, and BKM120, a PI3K inhibitor, demonstrated to be safe and clinical beneficial in women with high-grade serous ovarian cancer, as well as patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

The treatment of patients with ovarian cancer has evolved from an approach focused on chemotherapy and surgery to one involving targeted therapies and monoclonal antibodies.

The FDA’s recent approval of olaparib for women with BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer marks a significant therapeutic advance for women with the malignancy, but the specific indication is far too restrictive and the drug should be offered to many more patients.

Charles A. (Trey) Leath III, MD, associate professor, gynecologic oncology, University of Alabama Birmingham Cancer Center, discusses a study that examined clinical outcomes and quality of life in ovarian cancer.

Robert L. Coleman, MD, FACOG, FACS, professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a study which examined the impact of bevacizumab in ovarian cancer.

The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy JCAR017 elicited a 91% complete remission rate in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Despite their promise, checkpoint inhibitors are not effective in every patient, and research suggests the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway may hold important clues as to why some tumors fail to respond.

A new study has found that a psychosocial telephone counseling intervention helps improve mood and quality of life in cervical cancer survivors.

To gain insight into this novel approach and its potential benefit, Targeted Oncology interviewed Bradley J. Monk, MD, FACOG, FACS, who presented phase II results at the 2015 SGO's Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer.

Sharyn N. Lewin, MD, discusses the importance of screening patients with ovarian cancer for a BRCA mutation.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to the PARP1/2 inhibitor rucaparib for the treatment of women with BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer.

Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy offers a median 10-month survival advantage over IV chemotherapy for women with advanced ovarian cancer. Result from a retrospective analysis were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.